Antioch man convicted of 2010 home invasion

An Antioch man already in prison for another home invasion was convicted in a second Lake County home invasion case late Friday while being acquitted of related weapons charges.

After more than 18 hours of deliberations over two days, a Lake County jury convicted Miguel Rico of residential burglary, home invasion with injury and aggravated kidnapping charges but acquitted him on several weapons charges. The charges stem from a 2010 home invasion in which authorities said a man was bound with duct tape and robbed.

Rico, sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted in March of an Antioch home invasion, could receive an additional 30 years in prison, prosecutors said.

In her closing argument, one of Rico's attorneys, Lake County Assistant Public Defender Sharmila Manak, said that while what happened to the victim was horrific, Rico did not commit the crime, despite the fact that he told police that he did.

Manak argued that the confession was forced by overzealous police who assumed he was guilty. He was kept in a small, windowless room for 24 hours and didn't admit to the crime for 20 hours, she said.

"A confession is like a hot dog," Manak said. "Everyone likes the end product, but no one wants to tell you how it is made."

But Assistant State's Attorney Reginald Matthews countered that Rico was given four meals, multiple bathroom breaks and cigarettes during his interrogation.

"We can give you a nice cushy bed with a night stand, maybe a bible inside," Matthews said. "He had just committed a home invasion. They don't have to treat him like he's at the Hilton."

In March, Rico had been found guilty in a similar home invasion in the 41600 block of North Pedersen Drive in Antioch, which he committed on Sept. 8, one week after the Lake Villa invasion. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in that case.

In the Antioch case, authorities said Rico confronted a then 63-year-old male resident with an 8-inch kitchen knife, bound his hands with duct tape and placed him in the trunk of his car. Rico then woke up a 49-year-old woman and 14-year-old girl at the home and bound both of them with duct tape, placing the woman in a shower in the master bathroom and the girl in the basement.